It is getting to be more and more difficult for me to travel to see new baseball
stadiums. Despite that, I was able to take a trip up to New England to see
two games a few weeks ago. My goal each year is to visit the stadium of the
closest team that I haven't seen yet. This year, the closest team is the
Pawtucket Red Sox. They are just far enough away that it would be too difficult
to make it as a day trip, so I decided to combine them with another team
on my trip.

My choices for the other game were the Boston, Lowell, New Hampshire and
Portland. Even though I really love baseball, I still haven't made it to
Fenway Park.. There are a few reasons for this. I don't know anyone in the
Boston area who I could stay with or go to a game with and they have sold
out over 100 games straight which makes getting tickets a little tougher.
I really can't use either one as a big excuse, but I generally try to plan
my trips with a little more flexibility, so I end up going in another geographic
direction. Tickets to see the Lowell Spinners are difficult to get as well.
Since the team came into existence in 1996, they have sold out every game.
They do play in the short season NY-Penn League, but 40 sellouts per season
is still pretty good. The Portland Sea Dogs would be a good team for me to
visit since they are an outlier on the map, but they are pretty far away.
I decided to go with New Hampshire because they are playing just one season
in historic Gill Stadium, and I don't want to miss my last chance to see
a game there.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are playing their inaugural season after moving
to Manchester from New Haven, CT. They are planning on opening a new stadium
for the 2005 season and playing just one season in Gill Stadium. I've heard
information that the new stadium might not be ready for the beginning of
next year, but I don't want to miss my opportunity. Gill Stadium originally
opened in 1913 and had not been used for minor league baseball since 1971
when the Manchester Yankees were playing in the Eastern League.

Some modernizations were made to the stadium such as replacing the seats
and adding two picnic areas. The picnic areas fit in nicely because Gill
had so much foul territory to work with that they could extend the seating
out a little bit from where the permanent seats are. I don't like the look
of the temporary fencing around it though. Due to the way that the stadium
was constructed, there are obstructed view seats because the pillars used
to hold up the roof over the grandstands. I did think that it was a nice
looking, historic stadium.

I was also lucky to see a good pitching matchup that day in seeing Trenton's
Justin Pope (making his AA debut) versus New Hampshire's Josh Banks. Both
pitchers are considered decent prospects. The game itself was pretty good.
After each team put up a pair of runs early in the game, it remained tied
until the bottom of the 8th inning. The Fisher Cats sent 11 hitters to the
plate scoring 6 runs on 5 hits. It took the Thunder 4 different pitchers
to get through the inning. Neither starter was involved in the decision as
New Hampshire won the game, 8-2.

From there I went to Pawtucket for a Sunday afternoon game. McCoy Stadium
is one of the nicest stadiums that I have seen. Most cities feel that they
need to build new stadiums to compete and as a result, many of the stadiums
end up looking quite similar. McCoy was nice because it is an older stadium,
built in 1942, but it looks up to date. The outfield has bleacher seats in
right field and a grassy berm in left. There are also three BBQ areas for
group picnics. Many of the older stadiums start to show their age, but McCoy
has been renovated and kept up nicely.

One interesting feature of the stadium is that the dugouts are at field level
and the fans are well above field level. At most stadiums, the fans closest
to the field are at or close to field level. This doesn't deter the fans
from trying to get autographs though. Many fans will tie an object to a string
and lower it to the dugout for the player to sign. All of these things hanging
down on strings was definitely one of the more interesting sights I've seen
at a game.

This game was also very exciting. Even though the Norfolk Tides took a 3-0
lead, Pawtucket kept the game close after that. The Red Sox just couldn't
pull through as Norfolk won, 6-5. The game consisted of six home runs including
two by prospects who are constantly mentioned in mid-season trade rumors,
Norfolk 3B David Wright and Pawtucket C Kelly Shoppach. Pitching for Pawtucket
were former major leaguer Frank Castillo and current major leaguer Ramiro
Mendoza on a rehab assignment.

It was definitely a fun trip since I got to see two good games in nice stadiums.
But than again, it would be tough for me not to have fun at baseball games.
So in case anyone is interested, the next closest team for me to see is the
Boston Red Sox. But I will be moving soon and by doing so, I believe that
the Mahoning Valley Scrappers will become the closest team for me. And all
of this will be moot if any teams move with day trip distance of me, such
as if the Expos move to the Washington DC area. It's an interesting game
for me and fun way to decide which teams to see each year.

I am always looking for topics to write about, so please
send me an email and let me
know what would be interesting reading for you. Feel free to ask any questions
or give an idea for a column.